Stamp-affixing sviachfwe



e e h A j W 8 S 7 P N m R G E A M M L G N A I P m H C A P E M A T ..S d 0 M 30 No. 536,358. Patented Mar. 26, 1895.

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7 SheetsSheet 2., O. PALMER.

(No Model.)

STAMP APFIXING MACHINE.

No. 536358. Patented Mar, 26, 1895.-

HTWFH dilw (No Model.)

B. 0. PALMER.- v STAMP AFFIXING MACHINE No. 536,358. Patened Ma r. 26,1895,

lllllil' lllli i Wit-M 5339 (No Model.) I 7 Sheets-Sheet 5.

E. 0. PALMER. STAMP, AFPIXING MACHINE No. 536,358. Pate ntgd Mar. 26, 1895 I Wii'IZESSES:

(No Model.) 7 Sheets$hee.t 7.

E. 0. PALMER. STAMP AFPIXING MACHINE.

No. 536,358. Patented Mar. 26, 1895.

. III-212* NlTED STATES Bowl-No. PALMER, .OF CLEVELAND, onto.-

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Eatent No. 536,358, dated March 29 1893, Application tiled November 11. 1899. Serial I lc. 490,626. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN O. PALMER, a

citizen of the United States, and a'resident of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stamp-Affixing Machines, of which the following isa specification, the principle of the invention being herein explained and the-best mode in which I have contem plated applyingv that principle, so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

The arfnexed drawings and the following de scription set forth in'detail, one mechanical form embodying theinventionysuchdetail construction being but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings-Figural represents a top plan view of my improved stampaffixing machine removed from its casing; Fig. II, a bottom plan view of'the same; Fig. III a vertical transverse section of the machine and casing; Fig. 1V, a perspective view of the machine inolosedin the casing; Fig. V, a transverse sectional detail view of a part of the carriage, plunger,' feed roller and lug for the same; Fig. VI, a transverse sectional detail View of the plunger, carriage, and spring platform, illustrating" a stamp and an envelope in position-between the plunger and platform; Fi Vll} a view of the spring bar rel; Fig. VIII, a detail rear view of the transverse frame and the mechanism thereon; Fig. IX, a detail viewof the'carriage stopping dog and the lug rail upou the carriage; Fig. X, .a"-

"\iew of the-feedrollers; Fig. XI, a detail view of the platform retaining latch and Fig. XII,

' a sectional detail view illustrating the spring platform; Fig. XIII, a vertical transverse section of the machine and easing, showingthe handle and plunger depressedpFig. XlV,-a sectional detail view of the parts of the machineat the forward portion of the carriage, showing parts removed to more clearly illustrate the parts behind them, and Figs. XV and XVI, perspective views of one end of thecarriage, viewed from opposite directions.

A rectangular base frame, A, is provided with upright posts, A at its corners, and two longitudinal rails, A and A are respectively secured at their ends, to the upper ends 0? said posts.

A sheet support or carriage, B,-prefe'rably of sufficient size to have a sheet ofpostage stamps spread upon its upperjside,-has boxes, b, secured to its under side, at'the rear ed e, which boxes fit and slide upon the rear rail A Boxes, b, slide upon the front rail, and have curved and slotted arms, h", projecting upward from their fiat upper sides,

. through slots in, the carriage. v

The under side of the carriage is formed with notches, b at the points where it rests upon the upper flat sides of the forward boxes, so that the rear, pointed endsof said flat sides may-enterlhe notches and hold the forward edge of the carriage raised, when the boxes and slotted arms are tilted forward.

The-portion of the carriage, along thefront edge of the same, is formed with a series ofrectangular openings, h, each of the size'and shape ofa postage stamp, and separated from each other by means 0t partition s, b see Fig.V, having sharp upper edges, uponiwhich the perforated separating lines between the stamps in a sheet may rest.

A clamping frame, B, is hinged to the forward edge of the carriage, and has openings,

b corresponding to and registering with the openings in the carriage. Partitions,'b inthe frame register with the partitions between the openings in the carriage, and bear against the same, thus clamping the perforated lines of the stamp sheet. The ends of the clamping frame; have laterally projecting studs, b whlchproject into and slide in the slots of the curved arms, b so that the clamping frame may be tilted down in its clamping position by pulling back upon said curved arms. Springs, b, are secured to the ends of the curved arms and to the carriage,.and have a ,ately above the slots and lower rollers, and said feeding; roller has twosp'iral grooves, 17",- ezttendingirom one end to theother, and forum. lng'eaeh a one half turn-around the roller.

An L. -s haped doggb is horizontally piv-- oted at one end of the carriage and engages notches, 11 in the end of the roller, so that the roller may beheld in exact position with the spiral grooves in. their proper positions. A lever, 13*, is f-ulcrunied at one end of the carriage, and has its forward arin projecting beneath one of the projecting studs 1) of the. stamp clamping frame, so that the .latter may he raised by depressing the rear arm of the lever," The rear-arm of the lever is preferably turned upward, and has a laterally-projecting end-Z Attack bar, lfifiissecured to the under side of the carriage, near the front edge of the same, and a bar, B is secured tothe under ends of the carriagaat the rear edge of the same, and has a number of'eqnidistant lugs,.

12", see Fig. V-lli which correspond in number and relative distances to the partitions .between the front openings of the carriage. The

. forward rail A has 'a seriesof notches','-a,

' of the carriage.,.

which is engaged. bya'lip, h", upon one end f A. frame, (3, is secured to the main frame, to extend transversely across said-frameat its middle and to span the path of the carriage.

ing, 0, projects downward from the horizontal portion of this frame, and may engage one of the spiral grooves of the sheet feeding roller, when the forward edge-of the carriage is raised,

- so that the roller may be revolved one half of a revolution by being moved endwise beneath the leg when. raised by the carriage; Theforware, end of the cross frame 0 has a vertical 'loozi', C, in which slides a, plunger, D, of a 'sh'ape'and size corresponding to the interior area of'the openings in the carriage and clampaiiix astamp from the sheet, when depressed ing fran1e,so that the plunger niaycut ofi-and into one of said openings.

,Alever, D, is fulcru'med upon the trans;

verse frame, at about the niiddle'of the same, and has its forwardarmpivoted to a cross head-D upon the plnnger,-said forward arnr extending beyond the plunger and having' a suitable handle, D by means of'w-h'ich it may be manipulated. The rear end of the lever" is pivotally con-nected,'hy means of links, (Z, to two arms, D pivoted upon the crossifraine and having strong springs, d, which" ihroughthearmsand the links,the rear end of the lever. I

- A lever, E,vis in lcrunied upon the cross franfie at the same point asthe plungeractu-" atin'g lever, and a quadrant-shaped cam, e, 1s.

pivoted at the center of its segmental edge,

to the crosshead of the plunger, bearing against the forward end of the lever E with its lower corner.

. t. stud,'e, projects froth-the forward seg ,ervej to depress said arms, and,'-'

mental edge of the quadrant eam,.and may strike a stop,E', upon the forward end'of the "cross frame,- when'theplunger, cross head and cam are depressed. A link, E having a lon- 7o gitudinal 'slotfe, in its lower portion, is piv-' oted 'upon the pivotal center of the quadrant can], and has its slotfplaying upon as'tud, e upon the forward end of the lever E.

A connecting link, Eflis pivoted to the rear end of the lever E, and has its lower end pivoted to' a crank arm, f,-u pon the'rear end of a shaft, F, ournaled transversely to'the main f'rame,'and"ben eath tlie rails. The forward portion-otthe shaft has an arm,f', the outer end of which carries a'spring pawl, f which engages a raltchet'wheel, F, jour'nale'd upon the shaft, andsecnred to'a'cog wheel Fflsimi- -la'rly journaled upon theshaft and engaging the rack bat-B tithe carriage". The'throw of the lever E, a d the relative lengths o'f-jtihe connect' g arm and crank arms, and theradii of the rtchet .wheel and cog wheels a'resuch that eachdepression of the forward end-0f the leverE will cause. thecarriage to he moved o a distanceequal to the. width of an opening in the carriage or the-width of ;apostage stamp, As the depression of the plunger would give the carriage actuating lever E, too great-a th row, t'hetrip 'cam e is interposed, so 5 that the forwardend'of-the carriage actuat- 'ing lever will not b'e'depressedor raised'as far as thefplunger, and, consequently, the carriage will not be moved while the plunger cuts out the stamp and affixes the same to-the entoc velope. The transversesh-aft F has'a cam F near its rear end, which cam bears againsta dogrGr, the free end of which may be. forced up by the cam't-o engage the lugs upon the rear bar Biso as to'stop the-carriage after it has .ro5

moved the space of a-staxnp. i

Astop, a, isprovided at one end of the forward-rail A ,,so' as to strike and tilt't'he.

shaped-dog for the feeding roller/co dis engage th-edog-fro'ln the notch in the roller, no when the carriage arrives at'the end of the operative'portion of its travel. Another stop,

0-, projects from the cross frame C, and servesto again throw t'hedog into engagement with the notch in th'erol'l'er, wh n the carriage'ar- 11 5 rives at the end of. the re urn portion ofits travel.

A peripherally grooved spring barrel, G',isjournaled inone endI-of the. frame; and has a cord, G winding upon it.- The other end-of said cord is secured to the carriage, so that.

the spring barrel andcord inay draw the carriage back when it has: completed the operative portion of its'travel.

g A rock shaft, H, is journaled upon the bed :25

frame ofthe'm'achine, and has a forwardly and upwardly projecting. arm, h, which may raisetheforward edge of the carriage, when tilted, and an arm, h,which may be engaged by a lug, g,.-upon the spring barrel, so that 1 0 the rock shaftwill be'rockedand theforward arm tilted upward, when the carriage arrives assess at the end of the return portion ot its travel.

A horizontal envelope support, J, extends at about the middle of the base frame, beneath the plunger box, and the portion immediately beneath the plunger is separate from the support to form avertically movable platform, J'-. Said platform has vertical guide rods, j, and springs, j which normally raise it above the surface of the envelope support. One of the guide rods of the platform has a notch j, which is engaged by an L-shaped' latch, J one arm of which projects out at the side of the envelope sup'port, in front of the fron't'endof the transverse frame 0. A lever, K, is fulc'rumed upon the front end of said frame, and has its lower arm bearing against the projecting arm of the latch. The upper arm of the lever K is provided with a stud, k, which is engaged-by a notched. spring catch, kflupon the front end of the transverse frame, when the lever is. in such position that its lower arm just bears against the projecting arm of the latch J without tripping-the latter. A stud, 10 projects fromtheup'per end of the upper arm of the lever, and may be engaged by. a stud, (1*, upon the plunger operating le- War, when the latch releasing lever is in the position with its lower arm just bearing against the projecting arm of the latch.v The stud (1 will slip to the rear of the stud' when the plunger operating lever is do-- pressed,"so as topush th'e'upper end of the .latchreleasing lever forward, thereby pushing thelower arm of said lever rearward and "t'rip-pingthelatch to releaseihe platform. A curved arm, D ,.projects from the cross head of the plunger, and engages bothstuds of the lever K,-engaging the lower stud k, upon the down stroke of the plunger and its lever, to 'throw the upper arm of the latch releasing lever inward;and engaging the upper stud is, upon the up stroke of the plunger and its lever, to throw the upper arm of the latchreleasinglever outward, into the position in which its lower arm just bears against .the latch,

A stud, d projects laterally from. the rear end of the'plunger actuating lever, and engages a slotted arm, Z, pivoted upon a shaft, L, which is journaled, parallel to the base frame, in brackets, L, upon said frame. The end of said shaft has a ratchet wheel, 1', secured upon it,.which is engaged by a spring pawl, Z upon the slotted arm I. The shaft L carries a series ofregister disks, l, which are plays, and an opening, m through which the row of register numerals show. It is thus obsheet and affixed to the ehvelopc.

, tion,

viousjthat the stamps or the register cannot be tampered with, but that the only manner of obtaining a'starnp'will be by affixinga. stamp to'an envelope; and such act will be registered.

Ifdesired, a sponge cupyN, or other moistening, device for the envelope, may be provided at one side of the envelope-support.

In practice,a sheet of stamps is placed upon the carriage, and the first row of stamps upon the sheet is drawn out between the feed rollers and beneath the clamping frame, which is thereupon released to clamp the perforated separating lines of the sheet.. The insertion of the" sheet is preferably done when the carriage is at the end of the operative portion of its travel, and "the release of the clamping frame is performed at theend of the return portion of the travel. When the moistened corner of an envelope Z is inserted beneath the carriage and plunger and the handle isdepressed, a stamp is punched out from the The downward movement of the plunger and forward arm of. theplunger actuating lever, causes said latter lever to rock the carriage actuating lever which moves the carriage forward so as to bring a stamp opening and 'a stamp beneath the plunger; When the opening in the carriageis beneath the descending plunger, the cam upon the-carriage actuating shaft F raises the stop dog so as to stop and hold the carriage at that point, while the plunger descends and punches out and ailixes a. stamp. The stud upon the forward arm of the plunger actuating lever will strike the stud upon the upper end of the lever K, and will force the lower end of-said lever against the platform retaining latch J causing said latchtorelease the platform, which will rise toward the plunger, which will thus bear against the platform, with the stamp and envelope interposed stamp will thusbe firmly clamped between the end-of the plunger and the platform, and

the stamp may be severed from the sheet at the edges of the stamp opening in the carriage without danger of tearing it, as itis firmly clamped at all points of its area. As the plunger descends with the envelope and stamp supported from below and-held firmly against it, the stamp is severed from the sheet and. afiixed to the envelope. When the platform is. fully depressed to the level of the envelope support, the curved arm D which projects from the cross head of the plunger, will rock the lever which trips the platform retaining latch, so as'to allow said latch to again engage the notch in the guide rod of the platform and retain the latter in its posilevel with the envelope support. The carriage is prevented frombeing drawn back by the returning spring, by the lip 12 cugaging the notches in the forward ra1l,'as well as by the fact that the carriage actuating cog wheelicannot revolve backward on the. carriage is roused-,the spiral groove of theop'posed v-to saidp1nnger,- and connecting has been punched out, and; the carriage arpressed by the descending rear a m of the oar-i front edge ot" the carriage. This disengages 'andsllows the returning-spring ssa'cora to .an upward tap from beneath, This releases I the notches in .the under side of the carriage from the edges of the boxesnponthefortvnrd a nnmber of sheets may be placed in the ear riag'e at one time. v

"my invention may-be employed for the mode claims are employed.

nation ofwa stamp snpport for-med with anopening of 'the'size and shape of a stamp, e

ward the plunger and to move withtiie'seme corresponding in 'size'and shape to the size .acconnt of'its ratchet wheel and the pawl erlgagiiig the-same. v.W'hen one .row of stamps riveszit the end of the operative portion of itstray'el, the level- B- which raises the stamp clam-ping frame will have itsrear arm dew at the end or 'said'retnrn trip, the lug. ii-pon. the spring banrel trips the rock shaft If so. as to cause its forward arm to givethecarriage rail, andsllorvs thespring-sto draw the slotted armsof said boxes backward, thereby placing the eel-ri ge inoperativeengagement-' propelling mechanism. The carriage with the is now ready for another trip.. v "If desired',"a. roll of several may be provided for upon the ioarrisgedor example, by placing it npon a roller, so that Other modesof applying the prineiple of herein explained; .;Ohang e may, therefore be made as regards the mechanism thus dis-- closed, provided the principles of construe-- tion seoforth respectively in the following I therefore particularly point out and distinctly cI-aim'as my.-inventio.1

LjIn a stamp afiixin'g' machine, the coml i.

plunger of a shepeend size corresponding to the interior areaof the openings platiformv meansbetween said.,platform and plunger constructed to allow the platform to move towhen the latter passesfihrongh the stamp opening, substantially as set forth. l

Bfilne stampafiixing -maehine, the comhi}-' nation of a support .n'ponwhieh 'sLeheet of stampsmay rest-end which is formed with a series. of openings. at oneedge, said openings and shape of the stamps,- aipl'nnger corresponding-in shape to the interior of each of opening of the size plunger-of. alshape' said openings, and means for moving one of said el ements relatively to the other so as to;

successively bring the openings to register with the plunger, snbstant'isillyasset forth.

3. line stamp 'afllxingmaohindwheaeomhi nation oi as support np'on whiohca-sh eetof stamps may rest and which is formedwlths seriesof openings atone edge; each opening of the-sizesnd shapeot a-jstemmfla plungerof' a shape and sizecorresponding-tothe in- ,teri'or area of an openinginthesnpport, and

meehanism eon'neoted-tesaid plnngerand const rooted to movethe support thefspaoe of one stalmp opening "at each depression-of the plnngensubstantiallyasset forth. N I

4. In a stampafiiningmaehindthe combi- 'nationot' -asnpport .npon whichea' sheet of stampsmey restand which is formed with a series of openings at one edge,- said openings corresponding in size and shape tothe size end shape of the stamps, apluhger o'orre spending in shape to the interior ofileaeh of:

said openings, meansfor m'oving ohe of said feeding the stamp sheet over the stampopenings in the snpport-stee'ch return .ofithe mowing element to the starting point. of the opera nation. of a longitudinally traveling support- -iipon whioh. e shooter-stamps mayrestand stamp sheets;

hportinu ofits travel, snbstantiallyas set i 5. .In a stamp'aflixing moGhine, the oombi- "elements relatively to the other-to suo'oess- I ivelybring the openings to register; with the plungers and mechanism for automatically having a series'o'topeningsat-oneedgemseh end shape Oil! stamp; it

meohan ismoonneeted to the plnngerami su port for snocessively :noving the latter the space of one stampopening in one direction by eaoh depression -of the. plunger-,ahd mechanism for .antomatically feeding the-stampsheet over the stamp openingsin the support at eeeh return of. the "latter to the starting point, of the operative portion of its travel,

substantially as set forth. v

v rind sizeoorresp'onding. to the interior area of an opening in theoarriage,

6. .Ina'stamp sflixing machine, the oombinotion of a longitudinally traveling support upon which a sheet of 'etamps'mayrest, a

sheet feeding ro'ller'i'ipon the same provided with e spiral grooveyand-a 'lng engagingsaid groove and 'revolyin the roller at the return portion of the tray tisily as set forth. 1 7. In a stamp aflixing niachinethe com-bi:

of the support snhstennation of alongitudinally traveling support. upon which a' sheet of stamps mayrest and having'e series of stamp openings atone edge corresponding in size and shape to the stamps, e plunger corresponding in'size and shape to the interior ores ofeeeh of said openings, at

. stamp, feeding roller-'Jonrneled thesn'pport to bear against the sheet and having a spiral groove,-a;nd a. stationary lugengaging said groove and thus revolving the roller-st the return portion of thetravel ot thehhpport,'snbsta.ntiallyesset forth.-

In J stamp affixing inn-chin mmni 'fi finer: mevnC-i through an swamp opening, sob so na'izon n. renlpz'oeatmg plunger, a supper: ntailtiei'iy asset forth.

upon which a sheet of stamps may rest and In testimony that I claim the foregoing to having stamp openings atv one edge eorrebe my inventionl have hereunto set myhanil spending to the size and shape of the stamps this 9th day of November, A. D. 1893,

and connected to be sueoessively moved for. EDWIN C. PALMER. ward by the reciprocation of the plunger for Witnesses:

the space of one stamp opening, and a mov- WM. SECHER,

able plntfov z zgainst which the plunger acts J. C TURNERs 

